Ex-Senate advisor accused of taking kickbacks

A former Conservative adviser accepted money or benefits from two companies — including one headed by an aide to a former Conservative public works minister — in order to help them get government business, according to charges laid Monday by the RCMP.

Hubert Pichet, a former Conservative policy advisor to Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, was charged by the RCMP in Quebec Superior Court on Monday with one count of breach of trust of an office holder and four counts of fraud against the government.

The summons, obtained by iPolitics, reveal that the RCMP believes Pichet has committed a criminal act by accepting kickbacks, an advantage, or benefit without getting written consent from his government superiors, for helping two different companies.

The charges, which have not yet been tested in court, allege Pichet accepted a payment from JCG Communications, owned by Jacques C. Gagnon.

Gagnon worked for former Public Works Minister Michael Fortier and served as a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Gagnon’s company is alleged to have made the payment between November 1, 2009 and December 30, 2010, shortly after he left Fortier’s office.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Gagnon worked in Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s office from 1988 to 1990, and as a special assistant to the Finance minister from 1984 to 1987. He also worked for Industry Canada, and was the director of communications for the minister of Public Works from 2007 to 2008 in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.

But that’s not the only company from whom Pichet allegedly received a kickback.

The summons claims Pichet accepted payment from CAN-AM MODEV H2 R-D Inc., a hydrogen and electricity research and development company based in Oka, Que., sometime between September 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009.

Pichet’s name garnered significant attention following a 2010 Parliamentary committee hearing about the $9 million contract to renovate the West Block. During the testimony, Paul Sauvé, the owner of the masonry company given the contract to renovate Parliament Hill, told committee members Pichet appeared to be involved.

NDP Public Works critic Pat Martin called the news “shocking,” saying members of parliament know things like this happen, but are still surprised when they do.

“History has shown us there’s ample room for abuse in tendering of government contracts but it’s still shocking to MP’s when it’s occurring right under our nose,” he wrote in an email.

It seems there is always someone willing to take a payoff in the area of government contracting, Martin added.

“The sad thing is that for every Karl Heinz Schreiber, Charles Guite, and Gilles Varin, there’s someone in the bureaucracy who’s strings can be pulled for a price,” he said.

“They call it “greasing the wheels of commerce.” I call it theft, bribery, and corruption of the highest order.”